Jeremiah 17.b. Show Some Compassion!

 Sometimes our prayers are driven by desire; we want something to happen and hope that God will grant our wish. Sometimes our prayers are driven by concern; we want someone that we love to be blessed in the face of a threat to health or life. And sometimes our prayers are driven by exasperation; we have been working in the Lord’s service, but no one seems to care.

Worse yet, instead of believing the Bible, some cynics seem to think that showing love and compassion for others is just a waste of their time. We have many people like that today who refuse to be kind to the poor and needy, even though that is exactly what God is. Jeremiah has been preaching for people to take on the character of God, and they laugh at him. He falls on his knees in prayer, a lament complaining to God.   

17: 14-18. Heal me, O LORD, 

and I shall be healed;

save me, 

and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.

See how they say to me,   

“Where is the word of the LORD?   

Let it come!”

But I have not run away from being a shepherd in your service,

nor have I desired the fatal day.

You know what came from my lips;   

it was before your face.

Do not become a terror to me;   

you are my refuge in the day of disaster;

Let my persecutors be shamed,   

but do not let me be shamed;

let them be dismayed,   

but do not let me be dismayed;

bring on them the day of disaster;   

destroy them with double destruction!

 Remember that Jeremiah began prophesying around 627 BC, and twenty years later Judah is still standing, although threatened now, not by Assyria, but by the Babylonian Empire. How long can a prophet preach and still be heard if his prophecies do not come true? Long has fulfillment been the true test of a prophet (see Deuteronomy 18: 19-22). But it was not until 597 BC, thirty years after Jeremiah began preaching, that God’s word proved true.

 

So, it is no wonder that people have begun to dismiss Jeremiah as a false prophet and they have rejected his version of “the word of the Lord.” They are not afraid, though they should be, so they say, “Let it come.” Jeremiah has been a faithful shepherd warning the people not to go there but to follow the Lord.

 

Do you know how painful it is to be faithful to the Lord, on the one hand, and yet to preach an unpopular message on the other? What tension in the soul! Jeremiah says, “nor have I desired the fatal day’, on the one hand, and a few lines later, “bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!” This is what it is like to be tormented, when God becomes a terror to the servant who is doing his will.

 

However, a closer look shows that Jeremiah is not being vindictive. God has been patient, and so Jeremiah tries to be patient also. Goldingay suggests that verse 14 could be read, “Heal me, so I may heal” (The Book of Jeremiah, 2021, Pages 417, 421). I searched and no other translation reads this way.  

 

Still, the context of Jeremiah’s preaching certainly supports Goldingay’s supposition. Jeremiah is faithful to God, but he is also faithful to his people. It is as if your loved one had bone cancer in the lower leg and needs an amputation in order to survive. You would favor doing this and doing it right away so that the patient may live. Jeremiah also believes in the long-time good will of God and wants to get this over with. So, what is the problem? Jeremiah is praying that he may hold up under the pressure while God is waiting for the right time.

This is what it is like to serve a loving God who is giving space for forgiveness, on the one hand, but also concerned to see justice done on the other. Remember that it is not just ‘bad behavior’ or breaking God’s laws that is at issue here, it is a matter of persistently doing things that use and abuse people who have been judged by society to be at the bottom of the social scale. That is not how God acts. Listen to what God says, then pay attention to what God’s Son says.

 

Jeremiah 2: 34, “Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor.” 

 Jeremiah 22: 16, (God is speaking to sons of Josiah) ‘Are you a king because you have more cedar than everyone else? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is this not to know me?’, says the LORD.”

 Luke 4: 18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor….”

Luke 14: 12-14, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors…. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

Luke 18: 21-22, "He (the rich young ruler) replied, ‘I have kept all these (commandments) since my youth’. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me’.”

 God’s point: 'Your sins are against me, yes, but realize that they are against my nature which is to be loving and kind, full of righteousness, and seeking justice for the poor and oppressed. So, your sins hurt you because you are not becoming more loving and kinder, therefore you are not demonstrating right behavior and pursuing justice for the marginalized in society'.

That is why God asks, “Is this not to know me?” To know God is to follow him close enough to start to act like him, not in his power and judgment, but in how God treats people who are poor and needy. Jeremiah says, and I believe him, 'Show some compassion for others! You are hurting yourself as well as hurting others'.  

 It is for the people’s own good that God and Jeremiah want to see repentance and a changed life. God’s goal is to save those who will agree to repent and be reformed so that, in the long run, there will be a group of people who are dedicated to God enough to share God’s love and salvation to others. Are we there yet?

That is the beginning of the Gospel message that will attract others to God. The message fails when so-called Christians speak empty words about love but cannot be heard because they are busy trampling the poor and mistreating the orphan, the widow, and the alien. For example, does Congress busy itself passing laws that constrain the excesses of the rich and powerful, or are our representatives more interested in reducing access to food, health care, and education for those who already cannot afford them?

As the Apostle Paul said, a godly society is one where there is "...a fair balance. As it is written, 'The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little'" (II Corinthians 8: 14-15). Are we there yet?